1. Field of the Invention
Monitoring of pressures within human body cavities has an important role in diagnosis and management of a large number of diseases and clinical conditions. The present invention relates to a method for analyzing pressure signals derivable from pressure measurements on or in a body of a human being or animal, comprising the steps of sampling said signals at specific intervals, and converting the pressure signals into pressure-related digital data with a time reference.
More specifically, the invention relates to methods as defined in the preamble of attached independent claims 1 and 94.
2. Related Art
Continuous monitoring of pressures in humans and animals has a widespread place. During continuous pressure monitoring, today's existing technology, not the inventive technology (hereafter referred to as conventional or current technology) calculates a mean or area under curve of several seconds of pressure recordings. For example, for a given time sequence of 6 seconds, mean pressure may be computed as the sum of all pressure sample levels divided by the numbers of samples. Most modern monitors update the calculated pressure value each 5-10 seconds. Thereby information within the single waves is lost. Whether or not the mean pressure corresponds to single pressure waves during said time sequence is not known. Therefore, absolute numbers of systolic, mean and diastolic pressures shown oil the scope of vital signs monitors do not reveal single wave distribution. The basis for this praxis is the assumption of a linear relationship between mean pressure and amplitude of the single waves.
There are several problems with the current strategies of assessing continuous pressure recordings. Current technology uses calibration of pressures against a zero pressure level, usually the atmospheric pressure. This situation raises various problems, such as drift of zero pressure level during a period of recording. Differences in absolute zero pressure levels may cause false or inaccurate differences in pressures between different pressure recordings, making it difficult to compare pressure curves. Other causes of erroneous continuous pressure recordings are sensor failure, misplacement of pressure sensor, low quality of sensor signals related to movement of patient, and low signal-noise ratio of other reasons. Whether the quality of pressure signals is good or bad may be difficult to decide according to Current strategies of assessing continuous pressure signals. The present invention aims at solving these problems, introducing a new strategy of analysis of pressure related digital data, including assessment of the single pressure waves.
A continuous pressure signal fluctuates over time related to the cardiac beats. In the human or animal body cavities, single pressure waves are built up from the waves created by each of the cardiac pulsation's. For example, the intracranial and arterial blood pressure waves are intimately related as the intracranial pressure waves arise from the contractions of the left cardiac ventricle. Each heart beat results in a pulse pressure wave, termed single pressure wave. Related to the cardiac beats, these waves have a diastolic minimum pressure and a subsequent systolic maximum pressure. When it has not previously been possible to take the knowledge of single wave parameters into daily clinical practice, this situation is related to the facts that heart rate is variable, single waves fluctuate a lot over time, and the inter-individual variation is large. So-called spectrum analysis or Fourier analysis assesses fluctuations in pressure, but not by analyzing the single pressure waves.
Non-invasive pressure monitoring is partially established for blood pressure and ocular pressure monitoring, though no methods or devices allows for continuous single wave monitoring with identification of single wave distribution. In particular, applanation tonometry is a non-invasive method for intraocular pressure measurement, blood pressure measurement, and measurements of intracranial pressure in infants.